The bould Stevie McDonnel reckons it’ll be a draw Saturday night . Can’t see it myself , even less so without McBrearty .You’d be wondering where they get these notons.
Was there any reason why Cian didn’t see any game time against Laois ? Didn’t he come on against Longford . Jack should start imo , Lowndes hadn’t done anything wrong but I think now is the time to be letting Jack off the leash .

“The Tackle is a skill by which a player may dispossess an opponent or frustrate his objective within the Rules of Fair Play. The tackle is aimed at the ball, not the player. The tackler may use his body to confront the opponent but deliberate bodily contact (such as punching, slapping, arm holding, pushing, tripping, jersey pulling or a full frontal charge) is forbidden. The only deliberate physical contact can be a Fair Charge i.e. Shoulder-to-shoulder with at least one foot on the ground. More than one player can tackle the player in possession.”

Great info… As @alanoc points out, the above probably makes every tackle a foul. What is ‘getting a hand on’ but slapping. For me, the tackle definition is the biggest issue facing the sport. The game needs to be redirected towards tackling the ball on the solo / hop, not when it is the guys hands.

Having watched more soccer the last two week then I normally would in 2 years, I can’t help thinking the aul’Gaelic is fine. Especially now the blanket is on the way out.

If the steps rule was enforced then the tackle as defined would be much easier to implement and also enforce. This would improve the game for me but you are right our football seems much better than the association type.

“More than one player can tackle an opponent”, thats the start of a lot of the pulling and dragging, should be limited to 2. I wouldnt agree with no hand-in tackle as the back is helpless then if one on one with forward- all the fwd need do is put the head down and run. And you’re alliwed i think 32 steps between solos and hops.

It’s only 32 if you are going for goal, or if you were DJ Carey. Normally it’s just the 10 or 12!

Scully is ahead of Howard in terms of experience in that specific roving role at no 10. Covering back when opposition attack and breaking forward when we attack. Has done a fairly good job so far.
I actually think Jack could replace Howard on Saturday. Howard could eventually end up in half forwards with Con in full forward but not for a year or two yet.

I’m looking forward to this weekends matches. There’s been a dearth of decent games so far.
I think this weekend will go a long way to rectifying that. We have been fortunate that the Hurling has been enthralling. Hopefully with more to come. But for the next few weeks it’s Football’s time to shine.
I think it should glow well enough. I’d be very surprised if there wasn’t an upset or two and some tasty encounters to boot. And, if Tronnne don’t win a match it won’t go between me and my sleep.

I’m really looking forward to the Super 8s. Everybody wants to see more games at this time year. The sooner they run a similar second tier competition the better, more games to see and it will lift the level across the board.

I’m really looking forward to the Super 8s. Everybody wants to see more games at this time year. The sooner they run a similar second tier competition the better, more games to see and it will lift the level across the board.

Players have made it quite clear they don’t want a second tier competition.

Clever by the GAA to have the provincial champions playing the first weekend. May get some decent games. After that there’ll be a couple of hidings in the next couple of rounds and no one will be all that bothered.

Football is in serious trouble if a couple more counties don’t get their act together.

Seems to be different for various venues. Kilkenny season ticket holders which are almost all stand got preference over PP stand holders. In Ennis it was home supporters got first dibs, and Waterford season ticket holders were not given stand seats. Hard to know if the message above applies to all or was just sent to Dublin ST holders.